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Commission inaugurations are usually a time of celebration. Incumbent and new commissioners (and the mayor once every four years) are sworn in for a new term. Their family shows up. There are a few public comments of support. And everyone goes out for an early dinner afterward.

James

Today, however, will be different. With the future of Bill Moss’ seat in question, and the city now saying it might not be logistically possible to hold the election it agreed to on Monday, residents in favor of an election plan to speak up today. If it weren’t for the outside legal opinion that Commissioner Keith James has requested on the legality of the special election, today’s 3 p.m. swearing-in ceremony could have also doubled up as the first reading on an ordinance for the charter question that voters would have to pass in order to hold the election. Read more about the complicated election issues here.

City Clerk Joanna Sharp said she doesn’t know of any charter language being drafted by the city’s legal department, meaning there will be no first reading of an ordinance today. City attorney Claudia McKenna is on vacation for the next two weeks, and Deputy City Attorney Nancy Urcheck did not immediately return an e-mail for comment on whether language is being drafted.

James said that Mayor Jeri Muoio is in charge of finding an attorney for the outside opinion, and Muoio did not immediately return calls about her choice of an attorney. James said he expects a legal opinion by Monday’s commission workshop, although that might be too late to hold a June 5 election, which Supervisor of Election Susan Bucher said is the latest possible election date because her office needs to prepare for the August congressional primaries.

Bucher on Thursday said she would all the ordinances passed to hold the election by April 19 because of printing deadlines, meaning the city would have to purchase an ad in the newspaper this week. Bucher also said the city also is required to provide “legal sufficiency,” showing that the election would not violate city or state law. Bucher said she hasn’t received that yet.

Bucher

Some people are concerned that holding an election so close to the previous election would give an unfair advantage to Dodger Arp, who lost to Moss last month by 16 points. Moss died of a heart attack two weeks later.

Rick Rose, owner of Grandview Heights bed and breakfast who said he would consider seeking the seat, said he has nothing personal against Arp but believes he would be a step ahead of any other potential candidates.

“There are still signs out on yards with his name on them,” Rose said. “Certainly he has part of infrastructure in place, he has a donor list, he just completed a full fledged campaign weeks ago. He’s almost like an incumbent.”

James also said an election could give Arp an advantage, calling it an “unintended consequence.” However, James said it is possible to compete in a two month election. When James ran for office last year, he did not file an intent to run until two months before the election. His opponent, John Cohen, had been campaigning and raising money for months. But both James and Diane Cantone jumped into the race late, and it was James and Cantone who made the runoff.

“I was able to mount a campaign probably in that same degree of time, but it took a lot of time and effort,” James said. “It can be done. You have to get some help and you’ve got to have a good infrastructure. I was lucky that I had Richard Pinsky running my campaign and he knew a lot of what had to be done in a short period of time.”

Bob Morrow, who has already expressed interest in being appointed to the seat, has threatened a lawsuit if the city moves ahead with the election. Morrow, who helped write the city’s charter, said the charter would be violated if the city doesn’t appoint a replacement within 30 days.

“Anyone who would run would still be going through the same amount of debates and everyone is going have their own circle of supporters and that’s not going to change based on whether you have just run or are just deciding to run,” Arp said. “It’s an open seat and anyone’s allowed to run. If it’s the money issue, from my understanding you’ve got to close and open a new account anyway. If anything, people who contributed to my one campaign may not want to turn around and donate again so soon.”

As for challenging the election, James said nobody approached him and it was his decision to seek outside legal opinion.

“What I’m afraid of is that if we rush out and do this special election, somebody’s going to sue us in court and say we didn’t appoint in 30 days, we violated the charter, and we’ll end up appointing anyway,” James said. “I’m just trying to make sure somebody experienced in these firms can advise us, somebody who doesn’t have dog in the hunt can advise us whether we are on solid territory.”

Commissioner Kimberly Mitchell, however, said, “The city clearly has heard what the public sentiment is (on election vs. appointment). It’s our responsibility to do what it takes to get that accomplished. We have absolute means and authority to do it, and I will be sorely disappointed if the city shirks this responsibility.”